Tracy McGrady explains why he had to force shots in his first year with the Magic: "I ain't give a f—"

Tracy McGrady explains why he had to force shots in his first year with the Magic: “I ain’t give a f—” originally appeared on Basketball Network.

Tracy McGrady recently joined Carmelo Anthony on the “7PM in Brooklyn podcast,” and with two elite scorers in the room, the conversation naturally turned to the art of getting buckets.

Interestingly, during that segment, T-Mac shared that scoring wasn’t his top priority early on — he was more focused on playing the right way and contributing within the team structure.

That, he said, all changed when he joined the Orlando Magic in a sign-and-trade deal on August 3, 2000.

McGrady on basketball IQ

McGrady is a true student of basketball. Reflecting on that mindset, the Hall of Famer recently shared how he always stayed committed to playing the game the right way, highlighting a key example of this approach.

T-Mac explained that whenever he had the ball on the wing, he stayed aware of his teammates’ positions — whether on the block or at the elbow. When defenses loaded up on him, he made sure to involve players around him, focusing on ball movement to loosen up this defense a little bit.” Only after creating space, he felt ready to go to work one on one.

A 9th overall pick in 1997, he carried that mindset through three mixed seasons with the Toronto Raptors. However, after joining his home-state team, the Magic, T-Mac said a new approach became necessary.

“I ain’t give a f—,” he remarked about his team basketball mindset wavering.

Carrying the Magic

Arriving in Orlando, McGrady faced a new role, remembering he was expected to lead alongside two teammates.

However, Mike Miller, though a sharp shooter, was an inexperienced rookie and Grant Hill — a former college star once compared to Michael Jordan — was sidelined by injury. That left T-Mac as the primary scorer by necessity.

“I’m with a bunch of role players. Now, you could sit on the block. You could sit at the elbow and I can have a guy guarding me. It ain’t going to matter now. I’m put in a situation where I have to do what I have to do and get these shots up. I got to force s—. Yeah. Right. It’s mandatory. I got to force it,” he emphasized.

The numbers back it up.

In his final season with Toronto, Tracy had averaged 15.4 points on 12.1 shots per game. But his move to Orlando saw a dramatic shift — he boosted his attempts to 20.2 per game and, maintaining similar efficiency, exploded for 26.8 points per contest. That leap certainly played a big part in him earning the Most Improved Player award and his first of seven All-Star nods.

Yet, as he recalled, some of his team-first mindset stayed with him. Even with a larger scoring role, McGrady said he made sure to play smart, passing out of tight defense, aware he still needed his teammates.

Ultimately, T-Mac, who nudged his assists to 4.6 per game, credited striking the right balance between taking greater control than early in his career and still sharing the ball as the key to Orlando clinching a postseason spot.

“That’s how we really made the playoffs,” he said.

It’s fair to say his best years happened in Orlando, too, even though T-Mac had championship expectations when he got to the Houston Rockets, injuries to him and his teammates stopped him from ever reaching this goal.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Jul 18, 2025, where it first appeared.

Tracy McGrady explains why he had to force shots in his first year with the Magic: “I ain’t give a f—”

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